5thEuropeanIABPAconferenceFinal programm

The 5 th European
Internaonal Associaon
of Bloodstain Paern Analysts
(IABPA) Conference
Rome 2015
HemoVision: an automated and virtual
approach to BPA
Philip Joris ‐ University Hospitals KUL ‐ UZ Leuven
Abstract
Traditional Bloodstain Pattern Analysis,
referred to as stringing, starts by estimating
individual impact angles through ellipse
fitting, after which a piece of string is used
to visualise the stain’s flight path. An estimated
area of origin can then be obtained
by analysing the convergence of these
strings. This approach has been successfully
used, but is clearly a tedious and time
-consuming process requiring skill and
expertise. Software packages such as
HemoSpat and BackTrack use digital images
and intuitive software in order to facilitate
this process. Several advantages are
apparent, though substantial user input is
still required. We have therefore proposed
and developed a new approach, using
computer vision techniques to remove
most manual work. Fiducial markers are
placed in and around a spatter pattern,
after which the pattern is photographed.
Close-up images provide sufficient resolution
for accurate stain analysis, which is
achieved by using an Active Bloodstain
Shape Model. The placed markers are then
used to automatically reconstruct a single
coordinate frame from all images. In this
reconstructed coordinate frame, flight path
analysis can be performed using traditional
(manual) methods, or existing software.
By using the proposed marker-based system,
most of the manual work is removed
from the process of BPA. We believe that,
due to its fast and objective nature, the
proposed pipeline may be a valuable update
to automated Bloodstain Pattern
Analysis.
Biography
Philip Joris was born on February 18th, 1990 in
Belgium. In 2012, he obtained his master’s
degree in Applied Engineering in Antwerp. He
moved to Leuven, where one year later, he
obtained his master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence.
From 2013 up until now, Philip has been
pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at the KU
Leuven, in co-operation with the University
Hospital. His research is focused on the automated
detection of anomalies in medical images,
with an application to virtual autopsies.
Additionally, he has been working together with
the forensics department of Leuven to develop
and implement bloodstain pattern analysis software,
aimed at automating the process of BPA.
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